Saturday, September 26, 2009

...Warning bells went off when I read the BBC has attempted to modernize their new production of EMMA and remove "stuffy period characters." The producers wish to take EMMA and Austen "off the literary shelf...making her seem part of our lives again." Er, what stuffy period characters, and when has Jane Austen not seemed "part of our lives"? And to quote a British professor, "If you modernise it too far and modernise the social relations that pertained to Austen's day, then some of the behaviour and the plot will not make sense." Exactly right. (Click the title of this post for the story. Hat tip: Mrs. Happy Housewife.)

...Reading about the '50s TV series THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS earlier today got me to thinking about the 1992 film. Gosh, I love that movie. It might have been terribly depressing, given the level of carnage, but it's too exciting, too sweeping, and too lushly romantic to leave the viewer feeling anything but thrilled. It surely has one of the all-time great movie heroes, as portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis, and then there's the music and those North Carolina locations! Here's the trailer.

...From the "Are You Kidding Me?" Department: a homeless American Girl doll? That's just...disturbing. I can just imagine Christmas shopping for my daughters, back when American Girl dolls headed their wish lists, and choosing that over Molly or Samantha...not!

...Here's a simply lovely photo of a New York bookstore in 1945. Wouldn't you like to be able to browse there? Especially as they carried one of my all-time favorite books, Elswyth Thane's YANKEE STRANGER.

...Jacqueline takes a look at ZERO HOUR! (1957) at Another Old Movie Blog. (I reviewed the movie last New Year's Eve.) And while you're at it, be sure to read this interview with the daughters of Dana Andrews, Robert Ryan, and William Wyler which was linked in the comments.

...Reading the Pioneer Woman's personal love story last week got me to thinking about one of my favorite novels, Linda Howard's 1990 book DUNCAN'S BRIDE. Like Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond, the heroine of DUNCAN'S BRIDE married a rancher. I enjoyed rereading it the other day. Like so many great writers of the '80s and '90s, Howard left romance behind to write murder and suspense books, which aren't my cup of tea.

...I recently saw an episode of BAREFOOT CONTESSA where Ina Garten made a delectable-looking Brownie Pudding. Here's the recipe.

...Glenn Erickson reviews the Warner Archives release of NORA PRENTISS (1947) at DVD Savant. If you read my review last June you may understand why I loved Erickson's description of this film as a "Doom Ride"! (Update: NORA PRENTISS airs on Turner Classic Movies on Thursday, October 1, 2009.)

8 Comments:

Thanks for the linkage! I'm afraid I can't show "The Last of the Mohicans" to my daughter. She read it for school last term and was a bit angry about some key differences when I described the movie. Picky, picky. It was very bloody, but great for all the reasons you mentioned. A homeless AG doll?! Isn't that an oxymoron or something?

LAST OF THE MOHICANS is definitely one of those films that needs to be approached on its own terms, as it bears little resemblance to the original novel. I'm willing to forgive a film which isn't faithful to the book if it's really good -- MARY POPPINS being another example.

Great Shorpy photo of the bookstore. Interesting to enlarge the photo and make note of the titles. I would love to be able to see the prices of the books, too. I'm sure they would make Amazon.com blush.

Great comment, Barb. I don't know what Mattel is thinking but the PC nuts seem to have taken over. Out with turn-of-the-century beauty, in with PC divorced and homeless dolls. Heaven forbid the dolls help our children learn about history and aspire to more in life than homelessness and divorce.